The re-trial of the man accused of a Northwood murder that occurred nearly two decades ago has been moved
to March.
Ralph Doren’s re-trial was moved during a pre-trial hearing Monday before Common Pleas Court Judge Reeve
Kelsey.
Doren was convicted in July 2006 of the 1991 murder of Deeana Meeks. He had been found guilty of slashing
the 19-year-old victim in her mother and stepfather’s Northwood home.
In January of this year, the Sixth Appellate District Court of Appeals overturned the conviction by a 2-1
vote indicating Kelsey should have declared a mistrial after the prosecution played a tape of a
telephone conversation discussing a polygraph test. They had been ordered not to play the tape, but did
so anyway.
Even though Doren’s conviction was overturned, he remains in prison at the Gus Harrison Correctional
Facility in Adrian, Mich. Doren, now 60, is serving a separate prison sentence of 30 to 60 years on a
charge of criminal sexual conduct for raping a woman and threatening to kill her with a knife in 1993,
two years after the Wood County homicide.
Doren’s two-week trial is now set to begin March 22. A suppression hearing to be brought by the defense
is set for the morning of Dec. 14.
Defense attorney David Klucas asked for and was granted permission for Doren to be returned to his
Michigan prison until needed for trial. The request was made due to health issues regarding the
defendant.